Anthropologists rate their happiness above average.

At CareerExplorer, we conduct an ongoing survey with millions of people and ask them how satisfied they are with their careers. As it turns out, anthropologists rate their career happiness 3.7 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 21% of careers.

To put this into perspective, we compared how happy anthropologists are to similar careers in the industry. Take a look at the results below:

Salaries and satisfaction ratings in similar careers

Career Satisfaction Avg Salary
Anthropologist
3.7
$64k
Archaeologist
3.6
$40k
Historian
3.6
$62k
Museum conservator
3.5
$26k
Sociologist
3.4
$86k

So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:

  • Salary: Are anthropologists happy with their salary?
  • Meaning: Do anthropologists find their jobs meaningful?
  • Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as anthropologists?
  • Work environment: How enjoyable are anthropologist’s work environments?
  • Skills utilization: Are anthropologists making the best use of their abilities?

Are anthropologists happy with their salary?

Anthropologists rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.7/5. Anthropologists tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.

We asked anthropologists how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:

2.7 out of 5 stars

190 anthropologists

5 Star
13%

13% of anthropologists rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
13%

13% of anthropologists rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
26%

26% of anthropologists rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
27%

27% of anthropologists rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
21%

21% of anthropologists rated their compensation 1 stars

Do anthropologists find their jobs meaningful?

On average, anthropologists rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.7/5. Unlike many careers, anthropologists have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become anthropologists.

We asked anthropologists how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:

3.7 out of 5 stars

200 anthropologists

5 Star
32%

32% of anthropologists rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

4 Star
28%

28% of anthropologists rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
24%

24% of anthropologists rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

2 Star
13%

13% of anthropologists rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars

1 Star
4%

4% of anthropologists rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars

How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as anthropologists?

Anthropologists rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.0/5. The majority of anthropologists find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.

We asked anthropologists how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:

4.0 out of 5 stars

231 anthropologists

5 Star
36%

36% of anthropologists rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
36%

36% of anthropologists rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
19%

19% of anthropologists rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
6%

6% of anthropologists rated their career fit 2 stars

1 Star
2%

2% of anthropologists rated their career fit 1 stars

How enjoyable is an anthropologist’s work environment?

As a whole, anthropologists rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.8/5. A solid majority of anthropologists enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as an anthropologist.

We asked anthropologists how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:

3.8 out of 5 stars

223 anthropologists

5 Star
27%

27% of anthropologists rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
40%

40% of anthropologists rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
20%

20% of anthropologists rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
11%

11% of anthropologists rated their work environment 2 stars

1 Star
2%

2% of anthropologists rated their work environment 1 stars

Are anthropologists making the best use of their abilities?

Former anthropologists on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.7/5. Most anthropologists surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as an anthropologist, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.

We asked anthropologists how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:

3.7 out of 5 stars

224 anthropologists

5 Star
28%

28% of anthropologists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
29%

29% of anthropologists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars

3 Star
28%

28% of anthropologists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars

2 Star
13%

13% of anthropologists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

1 Star
3%

3% of anthropologists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars